The Portrayal of Slavery in Antebellum Louisiana in Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave In his memoire Twelve Years a Slave, illegitimately enslaved Solomon Northup does not only depict his own deprivations in bondage, but also provides a deep insight into the slave trade, slaves’ working and living conditions, as well as religious beliefs of both enslaved people and their white masters in antebellum Louisiana. Northup’s narrative is a distinguished literary piece that exposes the injustice of the whole slaveholding system and its dehumanizing effect. It is not a secret that the agriculture dominated the economy of antebellum Louisiana (Louisiana: A History 183). Therefore the Southern planters needed relatively cheap workforce to cultivate …show more content…
Ford has to “mortgage his slaves to pay off his factor.” (Louisiana: A History 165) Thus, Platt finds himself mortgaged to the malicious overseer named Tibeats. Being Tibeats’ slave, Platt has to “toil day after day, endure abuse and taunts, and scoffs, sleep on the hard ground, and live on the coarsest fare.” (Twelve Years a Slave 125) The writer does not hide his contempt for those slaveholders characterized as “blood-seeking wretches.” (Twelve Years a Slave 125) Such slaveholders as Tibeats and Edwin Epps, another ruthless plantation owner, who buys Solomon from Mr. Williams, fall exactly into such a category. Nonetheless, soon Northup admits that his life on Epp’s plantation proves to be even worse than working with Tibeats. The writer notes that Epps never spares his whip to extract obedience from the “niggers.” Moreover, “being fond of the bottle” and various violent amusements, Epps repeatedly makes his slaves dance for him in the middle of the night or lashes them around his yard with his whip “just for the pleasure of hearing them screech and scream.” (Twelve Years a Slave …show more content…
Thus, Solomon manages to beat Tibeats and almost chokes the life out of him, when the overseer crosses the line in his abusing and humiliating the slave. Moreover, Solomon dodges the attacks of his master Epp, who tries to stab him in a drunken stupor. The slave also recalls the local insurrection initiated by Lew Cheney, the man, who betrayed his black followers and received the laurels from his white masters. Pondering the insidiousness of the traitor, Solomon presumes that soon the white masters will taste the revenge of the oppressed people and pay for all their
12 Years A Slave Journal Entries Prompt 1: Setting In 12 Years A Slave Solomon Northup or “Platt” as portrayed in the book is a free black man that lived in New York. Solomon was married to Anne Northup and had three kids: Elizabeth, Margaret, and Alonzo. Northup worked as a multifaceted laborer and also played violin, being very skillful and talented at it. He was offered to play at a circus being able to make good money.
Soon, Ford sells Solomon to a new master names John Tibeats. Tibeats is mean, ruthless and horrible to his slaves. Solomon is asked to finish building a weaving-house. Mr. Chapin assists Solomon in providing a different type of nail needed to finish building than the one Tibeats requests. Upon seeing this, Tibeats is furious and tries to attack but Solomon reacts proactively.
Colonel Lloyd was a wealthy man and had a very beautiful garden which would be visited from all around Maryland. He also had stables and carriages; he was so wealthy he did not know hundreds of his own slaves. Colonel Lloyd once asked a slave on the road who his owner was and if he was treated well. The slave responded that his owner was Colonel Lloyd and he was not treated well, he was shipped to Georgia weeks later. Slaves who spoke the truth would be punished and/or shipped to another owner.
One of the most important terms in the book, is the dehumanization of black people, who are treated not as humans, but as animals. Solomon is taken away his freedom, kidnapped, sold into slavery and beaten, putting him, as other slaves, into inhumane labours, emotional and physical abuses, and violence. An example of dehumanization starts after their arrival to Louisiana, when they were put into a slave pen, being in charge of Theophilus Freeman, a slave trader, who changed Solomon’s name to “Platt”: “Your name is Platt – you answer my description. Why don’t you come forward?” (Northup, 1853).
In my first article from Shuaijie Guo, he evaluates the story of Solomon Northup, Northup was born free in the state of New York, and was kidnapped and sold into slavery. Northup endured years of mistreatment, including beatings, whippings, and even attempted murder, all because of someone elses desires for money and profit. Guo states how "In front of money” the slave owners “have no human nature” and sadly in the eyes of “white people,” “money is more valuable than free.” (Guo 850). These slave owners looked at their slaves as prizes and needless to say less than humans.
The story is during slavery, so surely there will be some type of conflict. However, Josh has a plan, a plan that comes with struggle and risk. The slave, Joshua Leckler enjoys working and is a dedicated man. He works for his master, and is getting paid very little amount of money ("The Integrate", para. 2).
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. The foundation of America is freedom. Freedom from Britain. However, the freedom is limited to white males who own property. When colonists started to immigrate to America, they wanted to escape from under the rule of Britain.
However Douglass points out that it is not the fault of the slave owner but because of the slaves since Mr. Sever “[took] no pleasure in it”. He continues to develop the corruption of the slaveholder when Mr. Plummer: “the louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where theblood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. ”(Douglass 20). Mr. Plummer is the typical slaverholder is the outcome
When somebody doesn 't do the right they get hit with a whip till they do what is told. Slavery is nothing like doing chores for your parents it 's worse you can 't take a break until you are done you have to keep working until they tell you when your done, and you barely get paid for it. • B. Background information: There has been a lot of injustice in society in slavery like beating up up someone when they don 't do the right thing for the job. slavery isn 't there choice they have to do it for them not for
Group Essay on Frederick Douglass “That this little book may do something toward throwing light on the American slave system”, and that Frederick Douglass does in his eponymous autobiography. Douglass throws light by dispelling the myths of the slave system, which received support from all parts of society. To dispel these myths Douglass begins to construct an argument composed around a series of rhetorical appeals and devices. Douglass illustrates that slavery is dehumanizing, corrupting, and promotes Christian hypocrisy. Using telling details, Douglass describes the dehumanizing effects of the slave system which condones the treatment of human beings as property.
The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.
In the 1800’s slavery was a major issue in the United States which was dealt with on a daily basis in the South. The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” Fedrick Douglass himself expresses the differences in the lives of black people in the North and in the South. The South was known to have some of the wealthiest white people in the states, that wealth and power they had was due to the many slaves they had working in their plantations. In the other hand, the North had black people getting paid for their labor, their black people were free. They were treated like human beings and even though they might still encounter problems with some of the whites these problems where nothing compared to the retched life blacks had in the South.
“Yes, sir, he gives me enough, such as it is.” The colonel, after ascertaining where the slave belonged, rode on; the man also went on about his business, not dreaming that he had been conversing with his master. He thought, said, and heard nothing more of the matter, until two or three weeks afterwards. The poor man was then informed by his overseer that, for having found fault with his master, he was now to be sold to a Georgia trader. He was immediately chained and handcuffed; and thus, without a moment’s warning, he was snatched away, and forever sundered, from his family and friends, by a hand more unrelenting than death.”
Frederick Douglass’s narrative provides a first hand experience into the imbalance of power between a slave and a slaveholder and the negative effects it has on them both. Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave, but the slaveholder as well by saying that this “poison of irresponsible power” has a dehumanizing effect on the slaveholder’s morals and beliefs (Douglass 40). This intense amount of power breaks the kindest heart and changes the slaveholder into a heartless demon (Douglass 40). Yet these are not the only ways that Douglass proves what ill effect slavery has on the slaveholder. Douglass also uses deep characterization, emotional appeal, and religion to present the negative effects of slavery.
‘12 Years a Slave’ is an eye-opening film that displays incredible themes and ideas throughout it. As the movie follows a man named Solomon, who is captured as a slave, the director, Steve Mcqueen uses an array of camera techniques, dialogue and fascinating characters to make these themes come to life. In two particular scenes, the idea that males feel they have the right to use women however they desire attracts the attention of the audience. This is because the female slaves have to endure not only difficult labour tasks for their masters, but also being used as sexual objects frequently. One of the techniques the director uses in the scene, in which Master Epps is counting up how much cotton each slave has picked, is dialogue.